Flying from Dunedin to Auckland with Air New Zealand

An Air NZ A320. Photo / Ben, Flickr

Gordon Gillan flies aboard Air New Zealand's NZ672 from Dunedin to Auckland.

The plane: An Airbus A320.

Class: I had a Seat ticket, meaning I flew with a checked-in bag (you're allowed up to 23kg).

Price: $178 return, booked about seven weeks prior.

Flight time: I booked a direct flight each way to avoid a stopover in Christchurch. It takes one hour and 45 minutes direct. We took off three minutes early at 9.57am and arrived in Auckland at 11.37am — eight minutes ahead of schedule.

My seat: 25A. Fairly spacious with 25B unoccupied.

Fellow passengers: A real mix of ages and, being midweek, a variety of business and leisure travellers. I was travelling with a colleague from Contiki but we booked separately so weren't seated together.

How full: About three-quarters full.

Entertainment: I brought my own book on board but ended up also reading about Josh Emett's travels to Malaysia in the inflight Kia Ora magazine. I'm a sucker for trivia too so also answered (and attempted to answer) plenty of questions on the onscreen trivia. Food and drink: I enjoyed a cup of tea, a glass of water and elected for the Cookie Time biscuit.

The service: Quick and friendly. Happy to serve both a water and a tea. Did the rounds for any rubbish and a lolly offering before landing.

The toilets: Not required.

Luggage: I had my laptop bag and a small check-in bag, which I elected to take as a carry-on so we could store some work material in the hold as my colleague didn't have any bags booked on her ticket.

The airport experience: We weren't at Dunedin Airport for long as another colleague drove us the 30 minutes from Dunedin, dropping us with enough time to check in the bags and grab a quick coffee before boarding. Clearing security was quick and boarding was fast through the front and rear doors.

The bottomline: It was a smooth trip back to Auckland after a work event in Dunedin.

Smart travellers will make plans in advance to get to the airport — it's 28km from the city.

Booking my flight a couple of months in advance probably helped in getting a good deal.

Keen to get back down to Dunedin to see a rugby game at the stadium and can hopefully get a good deal again flying direct.

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